Can I be the owner builder?

Yes. In Queensland an owner can carry out or manage building work on their own land with an owner builder permit from the QBCC, needed for any project worth more than $11,000 including GST. Most applicants have to finish an approved owner builder course first, the QBCC issues one permit every six years, and no work can start before the permit does. On a modular install it is the single biggest choice in the budget: certification and approvals run about $25,000 with the owner signing and about $35,000 with a licensed builder, and the difference is the home warranty premium, the QLeave levy and the margin a builder charges to stand behind a home a factory made.

What the permit takes

• A permit for residential work on your own land worth more than $11,000, including GST, labour and materials.
• An approved owner builder course for at least one applicant, unless the applicant already holds a QBCC or interstate licence or a listed qualification.
• You on the title, or a director of the company that owns the land, or a lessee with the owner's written agreement.
• One permit every six years, with exemptions for serious medical or financial circumstances.
• No work on site, not even excavation, until the permit is issued. The QBCC says processing usually takes up to 30 working days.

What you give up

• Home warranty cover. Owner builders are not eligible for the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, and work a contractor does for an owner builder is not covered either.
• The statutory contract protections that apply between an owner and a licensed builder.
• A clean title. A notice of the permit goes on the title and stays for seven years. Sell within six years of completion and the buyer must be given a notice about the owner built work before they sign.
• Your time. You are the head contractor: you engage the trades, run the site, book the inspections and answer for the safety.

What stays licensed either way

The permit does not license trade work. Plumbing, drainage and gasfitting need a licensed plumber whatever the value. Electrical work needs an electrician licensed by the Electrical Safety Office. Any contractor doing building work on the job needs the QBCC licence class for their part of it. On a modular install that means the installer sets the home up as your contractor under their own licence, the maker stands behind the module under its contract with you, and you hold the permit and deal with the certifier.

When a licensed builder is the right call

When the lender will only fund the job with a licensed builder on the contract. When a permit has been held in the last six years. When a sale inside six years is likely. When there is no time to run trades and inspections. Or when the job is more than an install: cut and fill, retaining, or an extension to the main house as well. In those cases have the installer sign as the builder and price the premium out loud, so the two paths can be compared line by line.

The full guide, owner builder or licensed builder for modular, has the permit steps, the contract shape and the lender questions to ask before applying.

See it for your block

• Install cost calculator, owner builder or licensed
• Owner builder or licensed builder for modular, the guide
• QBCC home warranty insurance, explained

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